Dumb nose without super freshness. Very ripe indeed. Lots of freshness on the palate. Though this is the Moueix wine that pushes most to the limit of ripeness. For modernists. Rather a leathery texture on the finish.Jancis Robinson MW, jancisrobinson.com - Apr 2010

PARKER - This is the finest Hosanna that proprietor Christian Moueix has yet made, produced from a 15-acre parcel that usually yields about 1,500 cases. The 2009, a prodigious blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, offers up an exquisite aromatic concoction of blackberries, plums, Asian soy, forest floor, truffles and graphite. Along with its stunning concentration, remarkably thick, juicy mid-palate and unbelievable complexity, its viscosity and opulence take this wine to new heights. This extraordinary wine is one of the superstars of 2009 and one to enjoy over the next three decades.Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - February 2012

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The Producer

In early 1999, Etablissements Jean-Pierre Moueix purchased a property in Pomerol called Château Certan-Giraud. The property consisted of two distinctly different parcels; the parcel on the elevated part of the property was renamed Château Hosanna and the remaining parcel was later sold.

Hosanna's vineyards lie adjacent to those of Petrus, Lafleur, Vieux Château Certan. Château Hosanna has a significant amount of 40-year old Cabernet Franc vines which are planted on 30% of the vineyard. The wine is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Christian Moueix believes that the fine, gravelly soil and high percentage of Cabernet Franc give Hosanna the potential to be the Cheval Blanc-style wine in his portfolio.

Other wines by this producer:

The Grape

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc,Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and Australia.

The Region

Pomerol is the smallest of Bordeaux's major appellations, with about 150 producers and approximately 740 hectares of vineyards. It is home to many bijou domaines, many of which produce little more than 1,000 cases per annum.

Both the topography and architecture of the region is unremarkable, but the style of the wines is most individual. The finest vineyards are planted on a seam of rich clay which extends across the gently-elevated plateau of Pomerol, which runs from the north-eastern boundary of St Emilion. On the sides of the plateau, the soil becomes sandier and the wines lighter.

For a long time Pomerol was regarded as the poor relation of St Emilion, but the efforts of Jean-Pierre Moueix in the mid-20th century brought the wine to the attention of more export markets, where its fleshy, intense and muscular style found a willing audience, in turn leading to surge in prices led by the demand for such limited quantities.

There is one satellite region to the immediate north, Lalande-de-Pomerol whose wines are stylistically very similar, if sometimes lacking the finesse of its neighbour. There has never been a classification of Pomerol wines.